Africa elected Ahmad for change – FIFA chief

Ahmad Ahmad (C) of Madagascar is congratulated by FIFA president Gianni Infantino (2ndR) after being elected the new president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Addis Ababa on 16 March 2017 (AFP Photo/Zacharias ABUBEKER)

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Friday the election of Ahmad Ahmad as Confederation of African Football chief was “a vote for change” after almost 30 years under Cameroonian Issa Hayatou.

Ahmad, head of Madagascar’s football federation, won the election in the Ethiopian capital this month by 34 votes to Hayatou’s 20.

“The African confederation needed to decide what it wanted for the future and Africans voted for change,” Infantino told journalists on the sidelines of a football congress organised at Estoril, near Lisbon.

“Africa is not an easy continent to manage in football terms but Africans have a great passion for the sport and a significant majority wanted a new leader.”

Infantino, a 47-year-old Swiss-Italian, was elected head of world football’s governing body last year in place of disgraced Sepp Blatter, who had reigned for 18 years.

Congratulating Ahmad on his election, former UEFA secretary general Infantino said that “FIFA are ready to work with CAF”, while adding that “progress was made during the mandates of Issa Hayatou”.